PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Arturo Rivera (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Woody Guthrie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rivera comes to the cage accompanied by Do You Call My Name by Ra. Guthrie has chosen Power For Power, The Swans as his entrance music. Woody Guthrie is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Rivera
vs
Guthrie

180 cm
23
170 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

179 cm
23
180 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Arturo Rivera!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Woody Guthrie!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Franklyn Lucas and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Guthrie gets a clinch.
Guthrie lands an elbow just above Rivera 's eye.
Rivera blocks an uppercut.
Rivera tries to pull guard but Guthrie won't allow it.
Guthrie prevents a takedown attempt there.
Guthrie misses with a punch on the inside.
Guthrie has Rivera pressed against the cage.
Rivera fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Arturo Rivera. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Guthrie gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Guthrie gets underhooks to prevent Rivera's takedown attempt.
Rivera tries for a takedown. No joy.
Rivera tries to score a body lock takedown but Guthrie shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Guthrie slowing the pace effectively.
Guthrie prevents the takedown attempt.
Rivera changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Guthrie fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Guthrie throws a sloppy head kick and Rivera moves out of range easily.
Rivera shoots in for a takedown but Guthrie shows good takedown defense.

Guthrie clinches up with Rivera and pushes him back against the cage.
Guthrie tries to land knees in the clinch but Rivera avoids the damage to the body.
Guthrie working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rivera is trying to drag Guthrie to the mat but Guthrie just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Rivera is breathing heavily.

Guthrie jumps guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Guthrie is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Rivera looking to pass the guard.
Guthrie is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Guthrie pushes Rivera off and scrambles back to his feet.

Guthrie gets a clinch.
Guthrie lands a body punch in the clinch.
Guthrie slows down the pace here.

Guthrie gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Rivera has hold of Guthrie's hands but Guthrie slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Rivera looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Guthrie is taking a breather. Rivera says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rivera is looking to improve his position.
Guthrie controlling the pace.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Guthrie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Guthrie is looking to take a break and control but Rivera is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Despite being in the dominant position, Woody Guthrie just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Guthrie moves into range and clinches up with Rivera.
Guthrie lands a nice shot to the body.
Rivera fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Guthrie landing knees to the head.
Rivera blocking some punches.
Guthrie gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Rivera.
Guthrie gets through Rivera's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Guthrie with a knee to the head.
Guthrie tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Guthrie has a couple of punches blocked by Rivera.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Guthrie comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Guthrie lands a damaging elbow.
Guthrie lands an elbow inside.
Rivera changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Guthrie fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Arturo Rivera seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rivera avoids the body shot from Guthrie.
Nice sprawl there from Guthrie as Rivera shoots in.

Guthrie fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Rivera, pushing him back against the cage.
Guthrie has Rivera pushed against the cage.
Guthrie scores with a shoulder strike.
Nice elbow from Guthrie.
Guthrie gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Guthrie with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Guthrie prevents a takedown attempt there.
Guthrie throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rivera blocks it with crossed arms.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Guthrie.
Guthrie misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rivera.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Woody Guthrie dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Guthrie clinches up with Rivera and pushes him back against the cage.

Rivera successfully pulls guard.

Rivera throws his legs up looking for a submission but Guthrie uses it to pass to side control.
Guthrie is looking to take a break and control but Rivera is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rivera is trying to escape the position but Guthrie is controlling the position.
Guthrie wants to control but Rivera is keeping him busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rivera prevents Guthrie from improving position.
Guthrie wants to control but Rivera is keeping him busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rivera is looking to reverse the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Rivera manages to get back to half guard.
Rivera tries to roll over but Guthrie keeps him under control.

Rivera looking for submissions off his back.

Rivera actively working from the bottom here.
Guthrie content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Rivera is looking to improve his position.
Guthrie controlling the pace.

Rivera looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Guthrie is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Rivera doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Guthrie.
Guthrie not doing much here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, Woody Guthrie just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Guthrie moves into range and clinches up with Rivera.

Guthrie successfully pulls guard.
Rivera pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Guthrie is keeping the position for now.
Rivera is on the wrong end of a couple of strikes there.
Rivera being controlled here momentarily.
Rivera looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Rivera is fighting to break Guthrie's control of his arms but Guthrie is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Guthrie bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Rivera's guard.
Guthrie trying to control but Rivera is working from the bottom.
Guthrie postures up and lands a big shot to Rivera's brow.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Rivera is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Guthrie stays in close to Rivera's body and controls the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Woody Guthrie showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Rivera fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Guthrie closes the distance and clinches.
Guthrie effectively controlling the action here.
Rivera prevents a body shot from Guthrie.
Guthrie has Rivera pressed against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Woody Guthrie.
Guthrie is looking to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rivera closes this distance looking for a takedown but Guthrie circles away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rivera fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Arturo Rivera. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Guthrie closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Knees to the body from Guthrie.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Guthrie lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Guthrie.
Guthrie with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Guthrie throws a punch but it's blocked by Rivera.
Guthrie landing some nice looking knees to the body.
A right hand to the body from Guthrie.

Guthrie gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Rivera is not content to let Guthrie control the position.
Guthrie prevents Rivera from improving his position.
Guthrie keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Guthrie wants to take a breather but Rivera is having none of it.
The fighters are battling for position here. Rivera manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Guthrie won't allow Rivera to sweep him here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rivera is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Rivera has his foot on Guthrie's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Guthrie works his way back into a safe position though.

Guthrie is sitting in close to Rivera's body. Rivera has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Guthrie is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Guthrie is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Rivera.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:43 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Arturo Rivera!
Arturo Rivera retains his welterweight title!